Behind the Rankings
The management of working capital combines two measures, weighted equally:
1. Days of Working Capital (DWC) = (Receivables + Inventory Payables) ÷ (Sales ÷ 365 Days). If payables exceed the sum of receivables and inventory, DWC is negative.
2. Cash Conversion Efficiency (CCE) = Cash Flow from Operations ÷ Sales.
The overall ranking: (Highest Overall CCE Company CCE) ÷ (Highest Overall CCE Lowest Overall CCE) + (Lowest Overall DWC Company DWC) ÷ (Lowest Overall DWC Highest Overall DWC). Days of Sales Outstanding (DSO), Inventory Turns, and Days of Payables Outstanding (DPO) are not part of the overall ranking criteria. Industry averages consider all companies in an industry, not just the top five.
Sources: REL Consultancy Group, Piranha Web
Back to “Forget the Float? — The 2001 Working Capital Survey”
| MEDIA | ||||||||||||
| Over- all Rank | Company Name | Prior Year Sales | Cash Conver. Effic. | Days Working Capital | Days Sales Outst. | Inven. Turns | Days Payable Outst. | |||||
| CCE | Rk. | DWC | Rk. | DSO | Rk. | Ts. | Rk. | DPO | Rk. | |||
| 111 | NEW YORK TIMES CO | $3,489 | 18% | 138 | 23 | 197 | 40 | 379 | 44 | 75 | 20 | 768 |
| 128 | WASHING- TON POST CO | $2,412 | 13% | 257 | 5 | 68 | 44 | 436 | 76 | 38 | 42 | 217 |
| 133 | TRIBUNE CO | $4,910 | 21% | 86 | 53 | 485 | 68 | 778 | 37 | 85 | 21 | 738 |
| 150 | DOW JONES & CO INC | $2,203 | 16% | 166 | 34 | 289 | 44 | 434 | 86 | 32 | 12 | 944 |
| 152 | GANNETT CO INC | $6,222 | 17% | 152 | 38 | 331 | 55 | 597 | 26 | 118 | 24 | 652 |
| 155 | VALASSIS COMMUNI- CATIONS INC | $835 | 15% | 212 | 25 | 215 | 47 | 476 | 17 | 181 | 36 | 308 |
| 175 | MCCLATCHY CO | $1,142 | 15% | 202 | 34 | 288 | 57 | 634 | 35 | 88 | 29 | 479 |
| 207 | E W SCRIPPS CO OH | $1,719 | 15% | 216 | 39 | 347 | 61 | 690 | 39 | 82 | 26 | 587 |
| 229 | KNIGHT RIDDER INC | $3,212 | 13% | 247 | 38 | 326 | 49 | 514 | 33 | 94 | 17 | 861 |
| 241 | MEREDITH CORP | $1,097 | 13% | 258 | 41 | 367 | 49 | 516 | 12 | 249 | 20 | 780 |
| 354 | MCGRAW HILL COS INC | $4,281 | 18% | 130 | 94 | 815 | 94 | 939 | 5 | 574 | 30 | 442 |
| 383 | SCHOLAS- TIC CORP | $1,403 | 15% | 196 | 82 | 733 | 41 | 397 | 3 | 916 | 30 | 437 |
| 447 | PRIMEDIA INC | $1,691 | 6% | 636 | 37 | 319 | 55 | 604 | 12 | 261 | 25 | 592 |
| 475 | READER S DIGEST ASSOC- IATION INC | $2,554 | 6% | 618 | 43 | 380 | 46 | 466 | 9 | 354 | 21 | 743 |
| 545 | HOLLINGER INTER- NATIONAL INC | $2,096 | 3% | 780 | 36 | 303 | 53 | 581 | 37 | 84 | 22 | 697 |
| 576 | HOUGHTON MIFFLIN CO | $1,028 | 15% | 215 | 105 | 865 | 58 | 640 | 2 | 936 | 19 | 804 |
| 629 | AMERICAN GREETINGS CORP | $2,175 | 9% | 461 | 79 | 711 | 66 | 757 | 3 | 859 | 30 | 452 |
| 697 | HARTE HANKS INC | $961 | 1% | 911 | 43 | 382 | 66 | 755 | 93 | 27 | 26 | 558 |
| 820 | MEDIA GENERAL INC | $831 | -2% | 978 | 45 | 407 | 55 | 595 | 28 | 111 | 17 | 871 |
| 348 | Industry Average | $2,330 | 12% | 47 | 55 | 31 | 25 | |||||
Back to the 2001 Working Capital Survey
